A Date With This Dine-and-Dash Guy Makes for One of the Worst Nights Ever

We’ve all been on terrible dates. While dating can be great, there’s always some clunkers out there — but this guy has got to be the worst date we’ve seen in quite a while. He’s been named the “Dine-and-Dash Dater” for his reputation of scarfing down food, sneaking out of the restaurant and stiffing his date with the bill.

Paul Gonzales, the Dine-and-Dash Dater

Paul Gonzales has been seeing women all over Los Angeles, meeting them on apps and setting up dates together. His standard procedure is to show up early and order food. When his date/victim arrives, he eats his food quickly, pretends to step out to take a call and never comes back, leaving her stuck with the bill.

Gonzales has been doing this for at least two years — we’ve found coverage on him going back to 2016, when he pulled a similar stunt at a Burbank hair salon. His latest strike was last weekend, where he went on a date with a Santa Clarita woman at Mercado Restaurant in Pasadena.

Unfortunately for Gonzales, some of the other patrons recognized him from previous news stories, and pointed him out to the general manager.

Justin Leyvas, the general manager took Gonzales outside and confronted him. Leyvas showed Gonzales the news stories on his phone and asked if it was him. Gonzales confirmed it was and Leyvas asked him to leave. His date sat at the table, unaware this was all going down. After Gonzales left, Leyvas told Gonzales’s date what happened. Thankfully for her, though, Leyvas comped the check.

Gonzales has been to jail several times for misdemeanor arrests, including arrests for petty theft and driving without a license. He’s been known to order over $100 worth of food for himself on these dine-and-dash dates.

What was your worst date like? Was it as bad as the Dine-and-Dash Dater? Let us know in the comments!